A Royal Affair
by MyStrangeSecrets
Summary: Elsa, the 19-year-old crown princess of Norway, is finishing her last year at her high school, Arendal Gymnas. Her favourite teacher, Robert Callaghan, has brought a new intern along for the year - Tadashi Hamada from San Fransokyo. Watch as these two fall for one another despite everything (rules and magic alike) telling them not to do so. BH6 time period, set in Arendelle.
1. Chapter 1

**1\. Americans in Arendelle**

Elsa opened the old brown doors of the _gymnas_ \- high school - of Arendelle with a sigh that could probably be heard on the other side of the fjord. It was late August and she hadn't slept at all last night. Today was the first day of her last year of high school and this fact brought along mixed feelings. She liked almost every aspect of the trivial student life: Home work, classes, student projects and hours spent behind a computer screen researching, her peers, the occasional parties with the occasional exciting rush of acting like everyone else... but then there was always one thing getting in the way. Elsa was not like everyone else. She really wasn't. Her sister neither. Elsa was heir to the throne of Norway. And everyone in the school, everyone in Arendelle and the entire county, was aware of it.

Elsa was early. She usually always was. She was never late. She would arrive at least 15 minutes before the bell would ring and she would either be chatting with class mates, the school staff, or preparing herself for the first lesson. She did what was expected of her to be _respectable_. She neither kept people at a distance nor came too close to them. Except for a select few: Her sister, Anna - a princess with a heart of gold and of almost only joyful energy, her only true friend, beautiful and determined Jasmine Al-Hamed, and her favourite teacher, Robert Callaghan.

When Elsa entered the main hall, she turned right through a corridor to the main office and opened the white door finding a few staff members with cups of coffee in their hand, looking up to see who came in so early.

"Good morning," Elsa smiled politely.

"Good morning, Elsa," the nearest woman, Gertrude said, smiling back at her. At _Arendal Gymnas_ , it was not expected from either the staff nor the peers to call Elsa by any titles. It was her first wish when she enrolled here. She was happy it was the case - it eased the tension when someone approached her.

"It's a fine day today. Do you have any news for me?"

Elsa wasn't asking this question because she was royal. No, she was student president and this was the standard procedure for anyone in this position at Arendal Gymnas.

"No, it's your first day back. There's nothing going on today for you."

"Okay, just checking. Thank you," Elsa replied, stepping back and turning towards the door. She was about to finish her visit at the office saying "have a nice day" to Gertrude, but was interrupted when a young stranger bumped into her making the brown leather backpack in her arms fall to the ground. Her books were now scattered on the wooden floor and Elsa couldn't help but to let out a small sigh.

"Man, shit - I'm sorry, mrs," he stammered with a hoarse, american accent. He quickly fell down on his knees where Elsa was located to help collect her books.

"It's okay," Elsa replied dryly after hearing the word 'mrs.' She couldn't help herself though. "In Norway, _we students_ don't call our teachers by their last name."

For the first time, the american looked up and observed her face. His jaw dropped. Elsa found it quite amusing and her lips curved up into a mischievous smile.

"Shit - you're a student. Sorry, I assumed... I guess - but you asked if there were any news - wow. I.. sorry," he babbled.

"It's okay," Elsa chuckled at him. "I'm student president. I get that a lot. Titles, I mean. Don't worry."

The black haired student gathered the remaining books and handed them to Elsa, who put them back into the backpack. She then smiled politely at him as both of them rose from the floor. He looked strangely young to be in high school. Fourteen, perhaps.

"Thank you."

"Well, it was really my fault, so..."

Elsa smiled with a nod again, now gesturing that she needed to leave, but the american didn't understand her polite body language. Instead, he cleared his throat and handed her his hand. She looked at him curiously. He had no idea who she was. She slowly and carefully took his hand.

"Hiro Hamada," he said as their hands shook. "New student, just in. From America."

"America? Really? That's interesting. What part of the U.S.?" Elsa asked, genuinely interested.

"San Fransokyo, California."

Elsa couldn't help but ask the question she was most curious about.

"I hope you don't find this offensive... but - how old are you? We start high school here when we're around 16."

"13," he shrugged. "I know it's young."

He is _still a boy,_ Elsa thought.

"Well, Hiro-from-California. You must be very clever. It was nice bumping into you, but now I need to get going. If you would excuse me, I need to find my Robotics teacher."

Hiro stepped aside and smiled. "Robotics, really? That's funny. It was nice meeting you too. I'll see you around."

Elsa trotted to the door, but needed to stop when Hiro asked his final question.

"What's your name by the way?"

Elsa looked back at the curious student. His dark eyes were shining. She didn't know why, but she didn't want to give away her name to him. She thought that with the name her whole prominent identity followed. And right in front of her, there was a complete stranger who didn't know of any titles or royal families. But then the rational part of her brain concluded that the thought was stupid. He would find out soon enough.

"Elsa," she replied.

* * *

 _Arendal Gymnas_ was a nationally well-known high school for three reasons. Number one - Elsa and Anna attended the school. Number two - it was one of the oldest secondary schools in not only Norway, but also in Europe. It was largely known for the beautiful pillars and old corridors. The third reason - despite the age of the school, it was considered very modern concerning the teaching methods practiced as well as it's famous english immersion programme.

"Welcome back," Robert smiled from his lab desk with a large mug of coffee in his hand. His grey hair and relaxed smile always welcomed her. Elsa thought he was the best and most sincere teacher at _Arendal Gymnas._ From the first math class she had with him last year, she had found him terribly good at making complicated things seem like a piece of cake. So gradually over the last year, the questions she had asked him were no longer just about math, but they had become more personal and he was one of the very few people she trusted with almost everything. He was the reason she had chosen the extra robotics class with him this year - although she had no intention in pursuing something in that direction after school. He had a refreshing view on most things and although he clearly enjoyed the logic of the subjects he taught in, he acknowledged that the advice Elsa sought, was not something that always seemed rational.

"Thanks, you too," Elsa smiled back.

"How was your summer?"

"Rainy, grey, and honestly I didn't even see the sun," Elsa grinned and gestured with her hands if it would be okay for her to sit opposite him.

He rolled his eyes, but gestured for her to sit. "I meant - besides the fantastic Norwegian weather."

"Well.. it wasn't a total bore."

Had it been anyone elsa doing what Elsa had been doing over the summer, they would never return to school after vacation. She had been touring the country together with her uncle Haakon, the king, her sister, Anna, and some of their household staff. Many days had been spent at opening ceremonies, visits at museums, fancy balls, and tours of small villages. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy seeing new sides of the country, it was just that it all seemed fake somehow. It was the same drill everytime: Someone gave all three of them flowers, a huge crowd had shown up to look at them from at least 3 metres distance, and then someone important, a mayor perhaps, presented something to them. Elsa knew the royal family's part in this game far too well: The country was a constitutional monarchy, so the monarch had actually nothing to do politically. Their job was to represent the country and to draw attention to things that needed attention. If Elsa would claim that something was smart, many others would do the same. It was in fact quite an important job. Anna thoroughly enjoyed this kind of attention and saw the value in this role, Elsa did not. She yearned for a more active role in society, making a difference in her own way - having a say. Therefore the most treasured days during summer for her were the days spent back in Arendelle, where she was somewhat left by herself and with the time to do things she liked. She would spend hours with novels in the palace garden, discussing interesting things happening in politics with her advisor Kai, go for strolls in the _fjeld -_ the mountains - with Anna, and finally sit and use her full imagination trying to design and draw strange structures, sculptures, and buildings. It was her hobby and a very needed spare time activity to make her thoughts wander away from duties.

Elsa cleared her throat shortly after a little silence. "Anyway, you didn't mention what you did this sum - ?"

The door into the room opened quickly and all Elsa could see was a huge brown box with batteries and two legs sticking out at the bottom. After hearing a sigh, a red and exhausted face with shaggy black hair soon appeared beside the box.

"Mr. Callaghan, sir... do you need all the batteries in this room or - oh. Hello."

 _Another_ American. The guy, who was rather tall and stared confused at her, looked strangely familiar somehow. In fact, she reminded him of...

"Tadashi, I told you - It's Robert here. We're not in the US anymore, and you're not a student to me at the moment."

Elsa stared intently at the guy. She could swear he looked almost exactly like the older version of the young american student from just before. Her stare was greeted with a weird glance back to Robert, who seemed to just realise that the two weren't acquainted. Robert cleared his throat.

"Sorry - yes, you two aren't familiar. Elsa, this is Tadashi - a summer semester student of mine. He needed some fresh air and he is my intern here for this year."

Tadashi - who looked no more than 22 - placed the box at the nearest table and walked with quick steps to the two others.

"Yeah, um... that's me."

He handed her his hand which she accepted curiously. "Hello, I'm Elsa."

His eyes widened at the mention of her name and he slowly shot a glance over at Elsa's robotics teacher. Robert nodded with a grin.

"I've heard a lot about you from him," Tadashi smiled shyly. Elsa's mood dropped. She hadn't thought Robert would be a person to brag about teaching royalties.

"Really?" Elsa tried, trying to sound profoundly surprised about what would come next. "What kind of things?"

Tadashi took off his hat and come his fingers through the shaggy hair.

"You're his favourite student. And you don't even want to study his subject next year. It tortures him," he smiled over to Robert.

Elsa grinned and also looked over to Robert with a thankful smile. Robert hadn't told - ?

"Yes," Robert nodded. "She's quite the puzzle."

"In fact, " Tadashi continued, putting his hat back on, "he told me you would be studying international relations next year. "

Robert chuckled. "Such a waste."

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. "We'll see, I don't know what will happen this year."

The door opened again and all three of them looked over to see a face only Elsa knew well: Jasmine. Elsa thought that Jasmine was the most beautiful girl at the school. Her brown skin, alluring big dark eyes, and very long thick black hair stood out, especially among pale Scandinavians. Her father had come to Arendelle as a big oil investor - and the north Sea was full of oil. She didn't speak a word of Norwegian and therefore she had started at _Arendal Gymnas._

"Do you mind if I borrow Elsa for a sec, Robert?"

* * *

When the bell rang in the afternoon, Elsa smiled to herself. First day back, and things had run pretty smoothly. But things were not quite as last year.

It was peculiar; the American she had met earlier today - Hiro - had been in two of her classes: Robotics and Norwegian. So he was a senior, despite his extremely young age. Whether or not he was aware of her 'official status' was very unclear to her: In both classes, he would greet her friendly as though they were old acquaintances (in this way she thought he was still unaware of her status.) On the other hand, he would shoot a few strange glances from time to time. As this tendency accumulated in Norwegian class, she assumed he was terribly bored - he couldn't understand a thing. But did he _know?_ Another thing was Robert's intern. The two americans looked so alike. She hadn't seen Tadashi he rest of the day, so she difficulties trying to put two and two together. But they _had_ to be related.

Another strange thing happened today. _Hans._ Elsa's longtime admirer - or as Elsa would call it: Arrogant pursuer - did not say hi to her once. She had seen him a couple of times during the day, and he had most unusually not made an effort to sweet talk with her. It was a relief, and she hoped that he had changed. Hans was the sort of guy who longed to be seen and admired in the public - for all the wrong reasons. Anna was always complaining that Elsa was being too rude with him. That concerned Elsa. She didn't want Anna to sympathize with him. At least he had always kept a distance to her younger sibling.

Anna was at her second year of high school and very popular among the other students. Where Elsa tried to be active with the school by running the student council, Anna was sociable in many other ways. She didn't exactly follow the same guidelines to be respectable as Elsa did. _But why should she? She's not the one to inherit._ Anna had many friends and was often busy trying to please everyone and follow the news and gossip of the school - but both sisters would always find the time and meet at some point in every lunch break. Of course, the same thing happened today. It was always Anna who insisted they should meet up for at least 5 or 10 minutes during the school day. She was very persistent about that - and Elsa loved that about her.

Elsa walked to the corner of a side street next to the school. She was waiting for their driver to come and for Anna to come. It only took a few minuted before Anna showed up, her eyes blinking with happiness.

"You'll never guess who tried to flirt with me today," Anna jumped.

Elsa rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Everyone?"

"No, you silly. H-"

"Wait a minute," Elsa stopped her, having spotted something in the corner of her eyes.

"What?" Anna asked.

"That's the 13-year-old American student who walked into me this morning, Anna. I told you about him at lunch."

Hiro walked about five houses away next to a figure that she was almost certain was Tadashi. _So they are related._

"Really? Who's the tall, handsome guy next to him?"

"An intern helping Robert. I met him this morning. He seems nice."

When Elsa glanced down at Anna, she had to sigh. Anna had a dangerous smile on her face.

"Anna, he's kind of a teacher..."

"Oh, so what -?"

"Anna! Stop it."

* * *

-.-.-.-

 **Hello. Thanks for tuning in. Are you ready for some forbidden romance?**

 **As you might have guessed, this is a crossover of BH6 and Frozen. What's important to note is that it takes places in the kind of futuristic time of BH6, however this story is centered in Arendelle and takes place during Hiro's year of graduation. (1-2 years earlier than the BH6 movie.) It will _of course_ be explained what our favourite siblings from San Fransokyo are doing in Arendelle. And don't worry, Aunt Cass is there too. **


	2. Chapter 2

**2 - Three Lilies**

The following first week of school passed in a hurry. Elsa was very busy trying to catch on to the robotics classes, but somehow she had managed not to understand very much of what she had learned so far. Every time Robert had started his lecture, Elsa's mind had started to wander away from class. She had had trouble sleeping lately, having nightmares waking her up in the middle of the night. She didn't know where they came from, but the dreams always seemed to be forgotten when she woke up. To keep up her façade and to not look like a zombie at school, she had to wear plenty of makeup to school. She hated it – most of all she hated how coffee already had become such an addiction. The consequences of her slack were obvious when her first assignment had returned. She received a C. Had it been anyone else other than Elsa or other really focused fanatics, it wouldn't be a thing to worry too much about. However, to Elsa, it was a total disaster. For once, Elsa knew that the grade was not something she could just fix by trying to read the homework several times – she had tried it already, for the whole week. She knew there was something somehow troubling her elsewhere – she felt it in the other classes as well.

Elsa was deeply in her own thoughts when someone poked her gently on the shoulder in the cafeteria. She had been sitting alone today, as Jasmine was preoccupied with her secret love interest (Elsa couldn't pronounce his name in the proper way so she thought it was easier to give him that title) and Anna had for the first time in forever actually _not_ texted her about meeting for lunch. Elsa found it strange, but she had sought comfort in the Robotics books trying to figure out what went wrong in her assignment.

When she looked up, Hiro was standing next to her, looking at her nervous.

"Hei der," he said, clearing his mouth.

Elsa had not seen much of Hiro recently. He had dropped the robotics class after the first day, because it had been to awkward for him with his brother there and he had said it had been far too easy. Since then, he had been deeply preoccupied with his Norwegian books the last couple of classes Elsa had seen him in. She smiled when she heard his strongly accented Norwegian and answered with a chuckle.

"Hei, Hiro."

He cleared his throat and tried again, very concentrated.

"Jeg er ikke flink til det norske språket." _I am not good at the Norwegian language._

Elsa gestured for the thirteen year old to sit down and smiled again, however he continued to stand up. He looked almost red in his face.

"Vil du hjelpe meg?" _Would you help me?_

Elsa curved up her smile. "Ja, selvfølgelig skal jeg hjelpe deg, Hiro." _Sure, I'll help you Hiro._

He gave a sigh of relief and sat down next to her as quickly as possible.

"Thank god. I'm butchering your language. Elsa – I need to pass this class. I want to graduate this year. It's the only thing stopping me."

"You want to learn senior level Norwegian in one year? Isn't that taking it too –"

"I need to do it."

Elsa sighed. He was extremely determined.

"Very well," she said, but then hesitated. Hiro waited and looked at her.

"But then you would have to help me with something as well. Could we meet tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * *

When Anna and Elsa had arrived home in the castle, Anna dropped her backpack to the floor.

"Man, I'm so exhausted," she sighed. "Didn't sleep a wink last night."

Elsa chuckled silently. " Me neither."

"Really?" Anna blinked. "Who did you text with? You look so fancy with that make-up."

Elsa rolled her eyes. Anna was in a sort of denial when it came to Elsa's lack of social skills. Anna would never expect Elsa to have trouble sleeping because of an assignment.

"No one," she scowled. "Just… have had trouble sleeping lately. "

Anna groaned, as though she was surprised by the fact that Elsa hadn't been up late because of friends. She took up her backpack on her one shoulder and asked if Elsa wanted to sleep for a few hours before dinner. Elsa politely said no, as she wanted to be tired when it was time to sleep tonight. In fact, Elsa had other plans. From the back entrance, the walk to her room was short, and as soon as the white doors with traditional blue patterns opened, she quickly changed her clothes to something more comfortable than the dress she was wearing. In a matter of 5 minutes, she was wearing tight jeans, a dark green t-shirt, hiking boots, and an Icelandic sweater swayed on her hips, ready to wear for when it would get colder in a few hours. She called Kai, her advisor, and asked if he could tell the housekeeper not to prepare dinner for her. She had errands in the hills.

Before she could do the walk to the hills, she needed flowers. She found white lilies the most beautiful and knew exactly who to buy them from. Elsa walked out of the castle from the back entrance, her hair still in her usual tight bun, fastened the small backpack on her shoulders and set out.

She didn't mind that she had to wear sunglasses to keep people from staring at her. The late summer sun was shining, which kept the weather comfortable and her reason to wear them seemed less obvious.

As the Arendelle Castle was about fifty metres out on the fjord connected only with old stone bridges to the town centre, Elsa could have a unique look at the old town and the surrounding mountains, when she started walking into town. It was quite a remarkable city, it dated all the way back to the Viking Age. It was most famous for the wooden church attached to the castle, which one could only find a few other places around Scandinavia. Indeed, even in the castle library, one could find books written in older Futhark, possibly written down in the early middle ages. There had always resided royalty in Arendelle. From the Viking chieftains in the start of the first millennia to the time when the kingdom of Arendelle was annexed by Norway, and the royal families joined their houses. Since then, the Arendelle castle had been used either as a summer residence or a residence for the younger brother or sister to the monarch. Such was the case for her father, Erik, who was the younger sibling to her uncle, King Haakon. The king lived in Oslo, the capitol. Elsa never really associated herself with the capitol city. She found it intriguing and exciting to visit, but it was not her home. It was not Arendelle. What could compete with friendliness of the locals, the beauty of the fjord reflecting the Northern lights, or the spectacular view from the North Mountain?

When she came to the town centre, the flower shop she was looking for was right next to the city hall. Inside the neatly decorated shop, she found the face she was looking for: Gerda. The kind florist was the wife of Kai, and from time to time she helped at the castle. She was one of the most warm and gentle women Elsa had ever known. Anna and Elsa always loved teasing both Kai and Gerda about their names: It was the name of the two main characters in a fairy tale she used to love to read with her parents. When the shop's bell rang, and Elsa entered, Gerda looked up from her scribbles at the desk and smiled as soon as she saw the guest.

"Your highness," she stood up from her seat politely.

"Hello, Gerda," Elsa beamed. Elsa had always tried making Gerda call her by her name only, but had stopped after six years of constant attempts.

"How are you? You look like you are ready for a trip to the hills."

Elsa smiled. Gerda knew exactly why Elsa was here.

"I believe I am," she nodded, "I just need-"

"…your three lilies. Of course."

Elsa nodded again. "You know me too well."

Gerda walked from the desk to Elsa's side. "I know just the thing. Come with me."

Elsa followed Gerda to the back of the shop and out into a little courtyard. This was highly unusual, and Elsa had never seen the place before. It was beautiful – everywhere one would look, one would see various flowers in a wide range of pots and little wooden boxes.

"Gerda, where are you taking me - ?"

The florist chuckled. "The most lilies do not bloom at this time of year."

"Oh," Elsa blushed, "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Do you know if there is any–"

Elsa was interrupted when Gerda pulled out a gardening scissor from her trousers.

"This," Gerda gestured to the whole courtyard with the scissor, "is my own little personal collection of flowers."

She bended down to a pot of roses next to her and cut off a yellow dead leaf. "I'm very proud of it. But mostly I'm proud of what I planted just there last fall." She pointed over to a pot standing in the middle of the courtyard. She let Elsa walk there herself. Four gorgeous white lilies with leaves as big as hands popped up from the pot.

"Oh, Gerda – they're beautiful."

She came up to Elsa quietly.

"They're especially for you. Say hi to your parents from me, will you?"

Elsa's eyes became a little teary as Gerda picked three of the flowers up from the pot making the one left seem extraordinarily beautiful. Gerda gently handed them to Elsa.

"I will," Elsa promised.

* * *

The Arendelle hills were a relatively small green landscape and park in the outskirts of Arendelle, two miles from the castle. It was a quiet place located a bit higher from the ground than the valley in which Arendelle was, and from the hills one could see the whole town, the castle, and the fjord with the mountains in the backdrop. It was a historical place. Elsa had been here many times before, but usually was here when she wanted to clear her head. Mostly the hills were covered with grass and only a few bushes next to the large gravestones that were also evident here. It didn't take long for Elsa to find her father and mother's gravestone. They stood – side by side – on the biggest hill of them all. Her parents had been beloved throughout the kingdom. Her mother, Therese, had been a kind and very beautiful woman, and the people had called her the finest treasure of Norway. People had also said that Prince Erik had been lucky to have met her before his older brother, King Haakon, had, as he was rumoured to have been extremely jealous of their relationship. Whether or not this was true, Elsa did not know and she had never asked her uncle. However, as King Haakon had been a bachelor throughout his whole life, the people almost made the rumour a fact. Her father Erik was a kind man as well, and Elsa had looked up to him as every girl looks up to her father with pride. There was so much to live up to. Elsa sat before the stones, clearing her mind. Her father had been involved in many things while he was alive. He had been the head organizer for a humanitarian organization and helped thousands of people worldwide. She wished more than anything that she could be like him – to make a difference somewhere.

"I will be good," Elsa whispered in the fresh air. "I won't fail you, dad."

She slowly rose from the grass and laid two lilies on each gravestone. The stones were big, so Elsa had to tiptoe. She took a last look at the two stones, folded her arms, and shivered. It was getting rather cold. It wasn't really that the cold usually bothered her, but she always dressed for the occasion. Elsa was very practical in that way.

Now, there was only one thing Elsa needed to do. She still had one lily left. She turned around and gasped when she saw who stood right behind her.

"I'm sorry," Tadashi said quickly, "I'm afraid I'm lost."

Elsa stood completely shocked. Had he heard what she had just whispered? Did he _know_ about her parents?

The American pointed at the big map in his left hand. "I don't know which way to return to Arendelle."

Elsa blinked a few times and approached him silently. "You are lost, you say?"

He nodded. "I tried persuading Hiro to come join me and look at the beautiful surroundings, but he's been on his computer for most of the time since we landed in Norway."

"That's okay," Elsa said, quickly trying to brush off her shock. "I can help you with that."

He showed her the map and she tried to point out to him where they were. He seemed to quickly understand her instructions. "If you follow that road to the castle, you should quickly be on your way home."

"Thanks," Tadashi smiled. He looked around when there was a small awkward silence.

"It's quite a place here, isn't it?"

Elsa smiled solemnly. "It's something."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Elsa looked at him sceptically at first, but then nodded as she saw how profound he looked. He bit himself in the lips before he could ask her anything.

"Is that where your parents are laid to rest?"

He pointed gently to where Elsa had been sitting before. Elsa looked to the ground, feeling stupid for believing he had no idea of her lineage or status.

"Yes," Elsa answered dryly.

Tadashi slowly put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

She looked at him confused. She wondered why he didn't flinch or react to the fact that she had just confirmed her status to him.

"I really am," he continued.

The conversation had taken a complete turn. But Elsa didn't want any condolences, she had had too many of them.

"You don't have to –" Elsa tried to stop him.

"My parents died many years ago as well; Hiro doesn't remember. I do though."

Elsa looked at him again, surprised at how the conversation had made yet another turn. Elsa found it strange that he could tell an almost complete stranger this story. He was a very direct and mature person.

"I'm sorry."

"As I told you, it's many years ago. If there's one thing I am happy about, it's Hiro not remembering when the accident happened. I was quite young myself, really."

Elsa immediately felt a great sympathy for Tadashi and his younger brother. She knew she could share her story with him as well.

"Our parents died three years ago in a shipwreck on their way to _Svalbard_. I'm afraid both Anna and I remember very clearly. That's why I come to the hills every once in a while. I… sometimes need to clear my head. "

Tadashi folded his map together. "Elsa – if you ever need anyone to talk to about it, you can come to me."

Elsa smiled at him gratefully. "I might hold you up on that."

Tadashi nodded friendly and gave her smile back. To change the subject, he packed the map back in his rucksack and pointed at the lily in her hands. " So… Who is the last lily for?"

Tadashi looked at her curiously. His look was that of an innocent interest. Elsa curved up her lips a little, thinking how nice it was of him to ask such a question. Not everyone would have thought this far. Elsa decided to award him the honour of showing him what he wanted to see, but she wanted to keep his interest intact and let the mystery linger for a while longer.

"I will show you something."

She gestured for him to follow her down a small path near the pine forest. Tadashi didn't ask any questions while slowly following the crown princess into what seemed like only a dense forest. In a matter of seconds, they were in a clearing. It was a simple place, but Elsa found it intriguing and strangely comforting. In the middle of the clearing, a quite tall stone stood, lonesome. There was nothing except the stone and the grass surrounding it. The two of them approached it. Elsa looked up at Tadashi and stopped before they could read what it said on the almost completely white stone.

"So… did you know the hills are only a burial place for the royal family of Norway?"

Tadashi nodded thoughtfully. "I think I read it somewhere in a tourist guide."

Elsa walked closer to the stone, now being able to read it.

 _-Malinn. 1519-1539—_

Tadashi started walking very close to the stone to inspect it. He then circled around it, trying to figure out something. Elsa looked at him with bemusement. She found it impressive how he could focus in such an intense manner. He was much like his younger sibling. Or, his younger sibling was much like the older brother. He came up to her and looked at the inscriptions again.

"I understand what you mean. She has no titles, no signs of being noble. Not even a last name. Although… I can't really tell, because of the runes underneath the inscriptions. I can't read them."

Elsa answered the hidden question quickly. "The runes tell us the exact same as the Latin letters. Her name and the years she lived."

Tadashi touched his chin with his fingers and kept looking at the stone.

"Tough one to figure out."

Elsa nodded. She liked that he was patient enough not to ask her the meaning of why she showed him this. He let her talk.

"What always intrigued me was that this place is so neatly kept. The grass is cut, the stone is not mossy like some of the others… Someone must be taking care of this place. I've asked around, and no one knows anything. I don't know why, but she must feel so incredibly alone here. I can't help but wonder… who was she? Why is she here?"

There was more to her interest of this place than simply the mystery she told Tadashi, but she couldn't say that. She hadn't told that to anyone.

He looked at her with kind eyes.

"It's quite a mystery."

Elsa nodded again. The two stood silently for a few moments.

"She is the one who deserves your lily, huh?"

"Yes," Elsa answered with a small smile.

"I think that's a kind thought."

Elsa chuckled. "Thank you. It's a strange thing, really. Do you want to put it there?"

"Strange, but a good thing," Tadashi argued and nodded at the same time. She handed him the lily and he slowly placed the white flower on the top of the stone.

He smiled at her and started walking away slowly.

"Just… give me two seconds," she told him, "and I will show you your way back."

"Sure."

He backed away and waited for her at the beginning of the forest, close enough to see what Elsa was about to do, but without seeing any small details. Elsa turned her attention towards the stone again. She looked at the inscriptions with narrow eyes.

 _-Who are you, Malinn?_

She slowly took up the lily from the stone; a cold wind touched her cheeks comfortingly.

 _\- And why do I always feel like…_

She slowly placed the lily on the stone again, with her head leaning to the right to observe the flower.

 _…_ _we are somehow connected?_

From the top of the stone, frost sprang slowly towards the flower and crept up the sides of the stalk. It gave the white flower's leaves a bluer hue. Elsa's right hand still touched the stalk and the frost crept up her index finger and ended at her hand wrist, when she finally cut off the contact with flower.

Elsa sighed silently and turned away from the stone. She came up to a slightly shivering Tadashi with a faint smile and nodded for him to go with her.

"I'll follow you back."

* * *

 **-.-.-.-.-**

 **Hello. Hello. I'm sorry the update is so very late. It's been summer and on vacation I prefer reading, not writing when I'm laying in the sand. But I'm back - and so ready for this story. CHEERS.**


	3. Chapter 3

**3\. The Hamada Home**

Tadashi Hamada really liked being in Norway. It was a chance of a lifetime: Getting accustomed to a different lifestyle in a totally different country. He liked almost everything about it, except perhaps the weather in the far north where he was living. Although it was late summer, the sun seldom shone, and when it did, it was not for long. The people were nice here as well, although he missed his college friends from back home. They had sent him all good wishes for his intern year here, and his colleagues were incredibly welcoming and nice, but he missed having people around him on his age that he could chat with on both serious matters and in a more loose tone. The only people on his age were high school students, which had shocked him at first - had he been in the US, there would have been a more clear age difference. Some of the female students had asked him flirtatiously how old he was, and he would have to stammer awkwardly that he was in fact still in university. They would laugh with each other and blink with their long eyelashes, which made him feel rather uncomfortable. First time it had happened, he had consulted Mr. Callaghan - _Robert; he forgot the first name rule_ \- and Robert had told him to ignore those comments. However, it was terribly difficult for Tadashi, as especially one girl, Charlotte, seemed to be horribly inappropriate.

Robert had been an incredible help for him in many other ways as well, making him feel comfortable with work and instructing him on how to approach the students in that very casual way as they did in Norway. Tadashi was proud of having Robert, a world famous robotics engineer, as his mentor. He had become a mess during summer school, unfocused and with a loss of inspiration. It was crucial with some sort of motivation as he was moving into the last years of his studies and desperately needed to come up with an idea for his final robotics project. It needed to be original and thought-through, otherwise he couldn't be calling himself a grade A SFIT-student on his way to change the world for the better, as he desperately wanted to be. Robert had offered him the internship as a break, and he had gladly accepted. Luckily most of his friends were a year behind him at home, so that when he returned to San Fransokyo, he would be in the same year as them. He hadn't expected for the whole family to move with him, but Hiro wanted and needed a change of scenery and new challenges (he had been bullied by some idiot jocks in high school) and Aunt Cass thought it to be nice as well. For a year, she left the Café in the safe hands of her assistant, Muriel. Aunt Cass had then applied and received a job at the first place she had applied to in Arendelle - a world renowned restaurant called _Havet (the Ocean.)_

Tadashi sat in a corner in the back of the class, observing Callaghan as he continued talking about the power sources used in robots. The intern had a habit of sometimes losing track of what happened in the lectures, as the level was quite easy, and it was not very hard for him to answer the following questions from students while they did peer work. Unfortunately, this led to a quite disturbing habit as well. Every few minutes in Robert's fourth period, his eyes would be drifting to the back of the platinum blonde student sitting in the very middle of the classroom. He understood why Robert liked her so much as a student. She was adequate in her speech, gentle in her thoughts of others, clever in every aspect he could think of, and lastly, her grace was extraordinary. He wondered how she would be like had she not been a queen-to-be. What other remarkable qualities could she possess? After their meet yesterday, her soft words and mystical ways were intriguing to a point he could not fathom. He felt so much sympathy towards her, and in a way, she almost felt like a friend after mysteriously trusting him with her family's tragic story. Sometimes, he could sense the deep sorrow behind her proud eyes that were not easy to read, and he felt humble and honoured that he had been trusted so easily. She was special and -

"...could you do that, Tadashi?"

Tadashi had to blink a few times to realise that he was being asked a question by his mentor. At once his face blushed furiously when all the students turned their attention to the back of the class and looked curiously at him. _What just happened?_ Right at this moment, he could have slapped himself.

"I am so sorry, what did you say?"

Robert narrowed his eyes at him and gave him a weak smirk. He probably thought Tadashi had almost fallen asleep.

"Fetch us seven lead acid batteries, will you?"

Tadashi jumped out of his chair and almost sprang to the back door to quickly get away from the embarrassment, still completely red in his face. When he came back with what his mentor wanted, the students were paired up with partners sitting next to one another, and he quickly handed each pair a lead battery. He ended with Elsa and a guy with reddish-mahogany hair. Elsa was looking rather annoyed.

"Here you go," Tadashi said and gave a small smile to the two students. For unknown reasons, the guy made a bored sigh and took the battery out of Tadashi's hands in a mildly aggressive way. Tadashi raised an eyebrow at the rude gesture, but received no reaction from the said student. _What's his name again? Henry? Ha... Hans, that is the name._

"Thank you, Tadashi." Tadashi looked to the other student and smiled, almost forgetting the irritating redhead.

"You're welcome, Elsa."

She smiled back at him politely before he turned around to help one of the student pairs who raised their hands to ask for help.

* * *

Tadashi hurried through the teacher's room when the last class of the day had finished, but was stopped by one of the office ladies, who had to almost yell after him in his hurry. He wanted to get home as quickly as possible and go for a run. If he was quick, he could get home, have the run, take a shower before Hiro got home and before Aunt Cass had to leave for an evening shift at work. However, Gertrude stopped him.

"Mr. Hamada!"

For some unknown reason, she called him by his last name. He assumed it was because she was a fair bit older than some of the other colleagues. He made a quick turn on his heel and stopped to listen to her.

"Yes, sorry Gertrude -?"

The woman came up to her and handed him an envelope. She looked a bit nervous and bit her lip. It was strange to see a woman of this age acting like that.

"Your colleagues were wondering if you wanted to help with the coming school party. It's a celebration of the forthcoming fall," she said, still with this uncomfortable vibration in her voice.

Tadashi opened the envelope and scanned the invitation that was clearly intended to the students, but the date and times were there and it gave a good impression of the formal theme.

"We realise you aren't paid for these things as the permanent teachers are, you're young and sponsored by your university in the U.S and Professor Callaghan only, and you might have better things to do, but - I think I speak on behalf of the rest of the colleagues - we really want you to be there. It's a great party, it really brings the students together for the year. And, dare I say, the teachers like to throw their own little party as well after the students have left. The only thing we can't promise you is your pay for the evening."

Tadashi took a last look at the papers and chuckled. "Were you really afraid I was going to say no? Of course I'll do it."

Gertrude sighed relieved, but then started to stammer nervously again. "No, not really. I was merely hoping you could ask if Mr. Callaghan would like to join as well? You see, since he came here to Arendelle last year from San Fransokyo, he has not always seemed so happy. Sometimes even sad. But not when his prodigy - you - are around. He's been better. I... - I mean... we, thought he might like... to have som fun?"

A weak smile tried to hide the laugh that Tadashi almost made. _Gertrude... a crush on Robert?_ Tadashi tried to contain himself.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do."

* * *

 _Message from: Elsa_

 _To: Anna_

 _Hei der. I'll be late for dinner, I'm trying to figure out this Robotics. Should never have picked the subject. Wait for me - would you? I have some news._

 _..._

 _Message from: Anna_

 _To: Elsa_

 _Wait, what? Who are you studying with? Jasmine? Elsa I ate alone yesterday while you were in the hills - you better be home before 8. Kai told me there'd be chocolate mousse for desert._

 _..._

 _Message from: Elsa_

 _To: Anna_

 _I'll try. See you then._

 _..._

 _Message from: Anna_

 _To: Elsa_

 _Uh - I forgot! I have something exciting to tell you as well. See you. XXX._

* * *

After a short, but hard run in town for only half an hour or so, Tadashi returned home with sweat running down his forehead stinging his eyes with disgustingly salty water. He had sprinted the entire way, and when he entered the front door still gasping for air he was in terrible need for a shower. However, he didn't get to the shower before he had to stop in his tracks on his way upstairs from the kitchen.

"Hey, 'dashi!'" Hiro yelled from the living room. This was highly unusual, one would usually find Hiro in their own room. Even more unusual was the happy tone in his voice.

Tadashi turned towards the living room from the hallway with a suspicious and raised brow. When he saw why Hiro had the mysertiously happy tone in his voice, Tadashi turned pale in spite of his lack of breath.

"Elsa?"

Tadashi was in awe of the situation. Had he known she would be sitting on the couch in their house at this time in her so very formal-however-not-too-formal clothes, he would have made him and the house more presentable. He looked horrible in his ragged, sweaty t-shirt, basketball shorts, and -

"Hi Tadashi."

Elsa smiled warmly at him, not moving from the couch next to Hiro with a thin book - clearly in Norwegian - in her hands. Hiro had a goofy grin on his face. Tadashi made himself more visible, stepping completely into the room.

"Hiro," Tadashi then asked, somewhat with a raspy voice as he was still catching his breath, "do you mind telling me what Elsa is doing here?"

Elsa didn't let Hiro answer, as she might have sensed a bit of distress in Tadashi's voice.

"I am teaching Hiro Norwegian - "

Hire joined in by laughing: " _Jeg hedder Hiro!"_

"- and... he will help me with a couple of things in robotics. This, ahem... for example the homework for today with the lead acid batteries and their application."

Elsa blushed shyly at him when she mentioned the last thing, probably because she felt uncomfortable telling her teacher's intern about her problems. Tadashi didn't know she had problems with his subject, her questions and arguments in class were usually always razor sharp. It seemed not like her to seek help for anything. She was independent - through and through. Tadashi found that about her so incredibly fascinating - such things could turn out to be the most beautiful trait by women or the very worst. However, it did seem to fit her to help others with their work - especially people who were enthusiastic, like Hiro. He wondered if she had the time to do that in her... position. He wouldn't ask her though, as he had a very strong feeling she wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it.

"Okay-," Elsa silently said to Hiro after a small silence, after taking a last glance at the newcomer - making him feel uncomfortable in his messy outfit yet again, "-do you want to read more of the Ugly Duckling, or should we perhaps do some gramm-"

Hiro shook his head. "No grammar for me. Not yet, anyway."

Tadashi rolled his eyes at Hiro's last remark. He should be more grateful for her proposals.

The two of them decided to start with Elsa's homework, and Tadashi told them he'd have a shower. When he returned, feeling a little more comfortable and relaxed in proper clothing, Elsa sat by herself in the couch typing a few things on her cellphone.

"Where's Hiro?"

Elsa looked up at him, a bit surprised "Oh - he's getting some of his old Lego stuff out for us."

Tadashi chuckled. "Lego? Haven't played with that since... -"

Elsa turned red in her cheeks again. Tadashi mentally slapped himself for first making the suggestion that Elsa was dumb, second for stopping mid-sentence.

"Yes," she said shyly (it was truly strange to see her like this,) "I guess... I need to know the very basics. Hiro told me you used to practice with Lego when you were little."

Tadashi nodded. "Clever one, that kid. Think one of our old Lego robots actually was powered by a lead acid battery. Didn't know Hiro brought it with him - he shipped quite a few things with him, actually. How is the teaching going?"

"I'm afraid the problem really is me. I can't seem to stay focused... I've... I don't know. Had trouble sleeping lately. Hiro is very talented though. He's really helping me."

The first thing that struck Tadashi when Elsa mentioned her sleep issues, was a list of sleeping disorders. (Bedamned science brain!) Insomnia - probably that. He knew there would have to be something bothering her, otherwise she would never have it. She seemed to look like the type where everything had to planned out - her sleep schedule as well. He was afraid it had something to do with her parents - although when he saw her in the hills yesterday, she looked as though she was taking that part well.

"Are you okay?"

Elsa nodded slowly, but looked to the ground. "It's nothing, really."

Tadashi didn't want to dwelve on it too much, as it might upset her. So he decided to change the subject. He walked a bit closer to the couch, so that she didn't need to rise.

"Did you hear about the school party in two weeks?"

Elsa nodded with a weak smile. "Yes. I help arrange those things. You know, as student president."

Tadashi felt dumb. Of course she knew. But he tried to keep the conversation going, trying to lead it to a more humorous conversation.

"So, you are going to it, I'm assuming?"

Elsa shook her head very firmly. "We go very seldom. I'm been to two formal parties during my time in high school, only for a couple of hours. Anna would like to go more often, but I don't like it."

Tadashi sat on the opposite side of the couch arm top. Her voice was not shaking, not nervous, not shy as before. She seemed to be very certain on this issue, but he couldn't help himself, he needed to ask.

"Why?"

"Someone always finds out we're going and the tabloids go crazy. A horde of them show up at the entrance those evenings. It's destructible for the school and I... I'm just not a fan of that."

Tadashi nodded understandingly, feeling somehow a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be seeing her at the dance. And when he discovered that his mind had trailed off down that road, he had to mentally slap himself yet again.

"Are you going, Mr. Hamada?"

"I shouldn't really, but I am. It's Mr. Callaghan who needs to show some dance moves - I'll have to convince him to come."

Elsa chuckled. "I think it would be good for him. He's not very sociable outside of school."

Tadashi nodded. "That's a quality my dear brother possess as well. Maybe I should convince him as well."

She chuckled again. Tadashi enjoyed the sound of that. "Hiro seems quite content here. There is no chance you'll get him to go to a dance."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Nah, maybe not. I wonder what would be easier - convincing him or you? If you went, I'm sure he'd go as well. You are one of the few people who actually interests him."

"I'm flattered," she said in a ironic voice. "Then maybe he should be my date. How about that?"

"I warn you though. He's a nerd."

Elsa glanced at him with annoyed, but playful eyes. "And you're not, hm?"

"Not the slightest," he laughed sarcastically.

Elsa's lips curved up mischieviously before Hiro returned with small Lego bricks, a few batteries, and a huge grin on his face.

"Alright, let's do this."

* * *

 **-.-.-**

 **Hello. Thanks for tuning in. I appreciate your reviews, follows, favs. It makes writing so much more enjoyable, so please continue doing that.**

 **Question from huaanle: I should probably not tell you from where I got the idea for Malinn, as that would sort of... answer some of the plot. However, I can tell you that I used her as a character in another Frozen fanfic I once did...**


	4. Chapter 4

**4\. Of Nightmares and School Parties**

"Anna, I will walk to school today. I need some fresh air, okay?"

"Okay," the little sister shouted happily from upstairs. "See you at school."

The happy tone was quite different from the scene displayed about two weeks ago. They had argued for hours when Anna had told her that she wanted to go to the school party with Hans, who had asked her out. It had come as a real shock to Elsa that he had asked her out, even more that Anna had accepted. Elsa had always spoken so negatively about him. After a long session of Anna saying 'please' and 'I just want to do something normal once in a while,' Elsa had given up. She had decided to tag along, and since Jasmine was also going, Elsa had somehow convinced herself that it might even be fun. But mostly she wanted to be there to keep an eye on Anna and her suspicious date. Anna had then spent most of the two weeks planning what she should wear and was making a huge fuss about it.

Elsa had different things to worry about. Her nightmares had increased, and she was constanly tired and living on caffeine. Especially this night had been bad, she had woken up three times. She only remembered one thing about the last dream, and that was the feeling of something piercing through her skin everwhere on her body. It had hurt. Really hurt. It felt real somehow.

As the back door closed behind her and she started to cross the bridge into town, Elsa heard footsteps approaching her hastily.

"Crown princess Elsa!" A young man quietly shouted to get in hold with her from her back. She knew at once who he was and turned around immediately at the familiar sound of his voice. The familiar blonde jogged over the street and onto the pedestrain walk to reach her.

"Oh, hello Kristoff."

Kristoff was the strong-built son of the two owners of Arendelle Gardeners, the company which also managed the caretaking of the Arendelle Hills and Graveyard. He worked part-time in the company of his parents, and studied part-time in Arendelle's technical school. Elsa had met the blonde several times in the hills, slowly getting to know him after asking him about the caretaking of the hills and especially the caretaking of that one clearing and stone in the middle of the nearby pineforest. He had liked her interest for his job it had seemed and had gladly shared what he knew. However, he didn't know who actually did the caretaking of the clearing. Then, she had asked him if he could keep her up to date if he saw something 'suspicious' while on job.

"Your highness," he said, fumbling with some garden equiptment in his right hand and carrying a few branches in the other. "I have been meaning to get in hold of you one of these days."

Elsa smiled at the blonde guy. She found him so warmhearted and genuine. His love for the nature around him was not something one could overlook.

"Really?"

He nodded.

"What have you seen?" she asked curiously.

Kristoff handed her a beige gardening glove with decorative yellow flowers covered in dirt and green colouring from the grass. It had been used a lot. "I found this gardening glove at the stone in the clearing today, it was left by a woman I didn't recognize as she was far away from me when she ran away in a hurry. But she looked to be a bit... older. Not our age. Maybe my parents' age or perhaps even a bit older than that."

Elsa looked at the glove. It was one of those any could find in a store for removing the wrong plants in your garden without getting your hands dirty. Anyone could have done it.

"Did you see what colour of hair she had?"

Kristoff shook his head. "A dark shade. She was too far away to tell exactly. But definitely a woman, the hair was long and her body figure, uh - well, curvy." He coughed at he last remark, clearly feeling a bit shy.

Elsa thought it so strange that somebody would want to hide that they took care of a simple gravestone. But then again, to Elsa, it was not simply a gravestone. What it did was terrifying.

"Okay, Kristoff. Thank you so much for the help." Kristoff nodded with a small smile. "I'll keep an eye open if I see more."

Elsa smiled at him. He was a real gentleman, really helpful although a bit awkward at times.

"Thank you."

Elsa would have liked to have asked how he was doing otherwise, but he seemed to be in a hurry and clearly needed to go somewhere. He waved goodbye and she continued the walk to school with many thoughts storming through her head.

* * *

Elsa had already been drinking two cups of coffee that morning when she went down to the coffee vending machine in the empty cafeteria before the first classes started. Her heachache was worse than earlier. When she removed her coffee mug, she had a quick dizzy feeling as though the whole world seemed to be spinning around. She then decided to sit down at one of the nearest tables to regain balance.

 _I can't go to the party tonight._ _But Anna, with Hans... I can't let that happen either. I need both eyes on them._

She sipped quietly from the coffee and tried to focus. Since when did Anna meet with the wrong people? She had so many quite marvellous friends, Hans was not one of them. Elsa was afraid it had happened after having spent so much time away from her sister over the last couple of weeks and more time in the Hamada home focusing on homework and trying to distract herself from her worries.

 _Let me just get this day over with._

* * *

After a long lecture that lasted the whole robotics class time, Robert paused to get everyone's attention before setting the class free.

"Today I wanted to inform you that we will be having an excursion three weeks from now."

Elsa blinked. _Excursion? They never had excursions._

"It will be a trip for all science classes on senior level. A combined project for robotics, physics, biology, chemistry, and astronomy."

Elsa slowly rested her head in her hands and waited for Robert to finish. She wasn't much for excursions, had never actually been at one.

"Now, we will travel quite a few hours up north to Finnmark County and every class will focus on something different at the Alta-Kautokeino River. As for our class, we will look into the Hydroelectric power station and take a look at some of the technology at work there. In biology, they will look into the salmon fishing, for chemistry it's the toxic heavy metals found in some of the fish there, and so forth. Because the trip will be long, and because the astronomy classes will have to use the night for their research, we will be staying up there overnight in cottages."

Elsa almost fainted at the idea of sharing a room filled with other girls from her class. What would they not think of her strange wakenings in the night? Maybe she could be excused.

"Now, I might as well tell you this now - the trip is mandatory."

She sighed silently. _She would have to be 'sick.'_

Robert finished his presentation of the trip and excused the class before he went over to Elsa who was packing her stuff together.

"Elsa, can I have a word?"

Elsa nodded quietly.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just a bit tired," she half-lied.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Elsa shook her head. "I'm fine."

"You have done really well in the last assignment. Tadashi told me Hiro has been helping you study."

She nodded and felt her cheeks heating up mysteriously at the mention of the Hamadas.

"I didn't know it was necessary for you, but I can see it has helped since the first assignment you did after the summer was over, so I won't question it more. Don't overload yourself though. You hide it well, but I can tell you are exhausted. It's okay to let things slip once in a while."

Elsa crossed her arms calmly after taking on her backpack. She didn't quite agree with him, but somehow she knew he was right. That was what everyone told her.

"I will try and remember," Elsa assured him.

"Good. Now, are you coming to the party tonight?"

* * *

Elsa stared at her nervous self in her mirror for at least a few minutes. She had applied plenty of make-up for this evening, far more than usual. It was a mask. A mask most people would claim was pretty, however Elsa did _not_. It was a precaution. Without it, she would look like a walking corpse. She was as tired as one would be after surviving a shipwreck, and her head felt as though it would explode. After taking an aspirin, she only felt slightly better.

From the wardrobe she took out a dark green and black dress. It covered her shoulders and knees gracefully, it was a formal and respectable dress for the occasion. It wouldn't draw too much unwanted attention. The only thing about it was that it was a bit too slim for her taste, revealing a bit too much of her figure. She took it on quickly as it was soon about time to leave.

The door opened to her room and Anna listed in quietly, looking at Elsa with a nervous smile from the mirror.

"You look beautiful," Elsa said warmly to her sister while observing her in the mirror as she came closer. Anna was in a green, beautifully decorated dress revealing her summer freckled shoulders and complimenting her beautiful strawberry blonde hair.

"Thank you. You look beautifuller," she blurted out, finally letting her strange shyness go. Elsa chuckled quietly at her childish choice of words. It was one of the things she loved about her sister. She was so honest in her ways, not afraid of saying the first thing coming to her mind. Even if that thing had to do about things Elsa didn't quite find logical. At least she wasn't as constricted as herself.

"I mean, not fuller. You don't look fuller, but more beautiful," she tried again. Elsa grinned, trying to contain herself.

"Thank you."

There was a small silence between them as the sisters looked with pride at one another in the mirror. Anna swallowed and cleared her throat, fumbling with her hands as though she was trying to say something. Elsa decided to take the lead.

"Did you want to say something?"

"Yes, uh - " Anna started, but slowly lost the sentence.

Elsa turned to face her instead of her mirror image, and slowly started to walk towards the door, gesturing for the sister to follow as they had to leave for the party. As the two of them strolled down the hall to the back entrance, Anna tried again.

"I just want to say thank you. For coming. It means a lot. I know you don't want to, I know you're doing it for me - "

"Anna, it is okay."

Elsa had to stop her before they met with Kai at the car. Their trusted advisor had insisted on driving them to the school party. He looked at them with a huge smile on his face.

"Dearest Anna, you finally look like a princess of this country."

Anna rolled her eyes kindly and stuck out her tongue at him. She then listed to the side of the car and took a seat in the back. Kai turned to the older sister with a more serious tone in his voice.

"Elsa. You're stunning."

Elsa looked down at herself and felt her cheeks burning. Kai had turned into somewhat of a father figure for the two sisters, and hearing the compliment from him made her feel strangely young and immature.

"Thank you, Kai."

"You are welcome. Now, when we arrive at the party someone has probably spilled that the two of you will be there. There will be a vast amount of media at the entrance. I know you do not like it, and that is okay - but I have one request."

Elsa leaned her head to the side, thinking it was strange of Kai to have any requests that she hadn't come up with. They thought so much alike. Maybe he had come up with some plan of sorts to avoid the media.

"Tonight, when you're at the party inside the school, don't be the crown princess of Norway. Don't be the future queen. Don't be the one we both have worked on to become our future, respectable monarch. Be Elsa. The real one."

Elsa looked at him sceptically. She had no intention of tearing down any of the walls she had surrounded herself with her whole life. It was part of her. And, she reminded herself, she was only at the party to make sure Anna would not be doing anything completely reckless.

"What do you mean?"

Kai sighed at her. "It's okay to have fun once in a while, that's what I mean."

Elsa narrowed her eyes trying to look as though she understood what he meant, however she did not completely.

"I will try," she lied.

* * *

When their car drove up to the entrance, Elsa had to groan. Sure enough, the media was there and they were greedily expecting for them to come out of the car. As Kai said goodbye, Anna jumped out in excitement. She had spotted Hans and almost ran to his side, ignoring the camera men following her every move. She ignored them completely (which Elsa came to think was her first time doing that) and the two of them strolled casually up the few stairs and into the school. As they disappeared behind the entrance doors, Elsa took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. Immediately a roar of sounds and a horde of people surrounded her.

"Kronprinsesse Elsa!" _Crown Princess Elsa!_

"Deres højhed, danske nyheder - De har ikke deltaget i en sådan fest i længere tid. Hvad er grunden nu? En kæreste?" _Your higness, Danish news - you haven't participated in a party like this for some time. What is the reason now? A boyfriend?_

"Kronprinsesse, den unge mannen ved siden av deres søster, er det Hans Vestergaard?" _Crown princess, was the young guy next to your sister, Hans Westguard?_

Elsa walked up the stairs and slowly towards the entrance without saying anything more than "no comment " to the first reporter. She hated having no privacy. None at all. She didn't know how Anna could stand it, not at all how she could like it sometimes.

"Kronprinsesse Elsa viser endelig sin vilde side!" _The crown princess finally shows her wild side!_

Something about the last sentence made her turn, and as she turned, the horde of people kept quiet.

"Om I ville være så snill - " _Would you be so kind -_

She stopped midsentence. Behind the crowd, Elsa spotted the Hamada brothers. Hiro smiled and waved at her, Tadashi kept in the background looking bewildered at her. In fact, he looked like he was in some sort of shock. She wondered what was wrong. His facial expression didn't suit his outfit for the evening. Seeing him wearing a suit and tie was quite different from his ordinary look, but it looked good on him. In fact, it almost looked as good on him as his running t-shirt she saw him in the other day. Elsa had to snap herself out of her strange thoughts as she noticed that the camera men were also looking at the brothers. She had to think quickly. There should be no interaction with the older Hamada brother, as he was a staff member.

She waved at Hiro and gestured for him to come closer. When he came up her, he looked at her confused.

"Hi, Hiro," Elsa said to him friendly. "Let's get inside."

He nodded and took a last glance at Tadashi walking behind the crowd of flashing cameras.

As Elsa opened the door to the school, she asked him the question that was the first to enter her mind. "So... how did Tadashi convince you to come?"

Hiro chuckled, but looked nervous at her. "He didn't have to convince me."

Elsa noticed a slight vibration in his voice. As the entrance door closed behind them, she saw that he watched her intently. It gave her an uneasy feeling somehow. It almost felt like he was... no. Hiro was too young for that kind of thing. Wasn't he?

The two of them stopped at a stand where she found Robert and the school principal, Belle.

"Could I have your ID please?"

"Hi, Robert," Elsa smiled kindly, brought out her wallet and showed her driver's license.

"Hello, great to see you here."

Robert gestured for her to take out her hand and put on a wristband.

"The wristband is for students over 18," Belle said to Hiro kindly, "It's if they wish to buy wine."

Hiro looked at Elsa sceptically. "You drink alcohol at your school dances here?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. Things at this school really are quite different from the U.S schools. There are restrictions on the quantity of consumption however."

"That's sick," Hiro said with a strange excitement in his voice. Elsa raised her brow. She shouldn't mention that most of the students probably already had been drinking a bit before the party.

"For students _over_ 18," Robert reminded him. "And don't try to fool us or I'll tell your brother."

Hiro rolled his eyes and looked at Robert with playful eyes.

"Ah, the youth nowadays," Robert said sarcastically to the principal. She chuckled at the comment.

Hiro and Elsa walked towards the cafeteria in the basement where the loud music was playing. She thought it crazy that a thirteen-year-old would be permitted to go to a dance like this. Only thirteen. Maybe he was only allowed because of his older brother. When they entered the cafeteria Elsa felt as though she was hit by a large cruise ship. The amount of different loud noises and the heat was unbearable, and Elsa had to support herself at the wall when a dizziness hit her.

"Are you alright?" Hiro asked concerned.

"I'm fine," Elsa insisted, "I have not slept a lot. I'll go take a seat in the café."

"You sure?" Hiro asked.

Elsa nodded. "Jasmine is probably in there. I'll go sit with her." She also thought that Anna was in there with Hans, but she didn't mention it.

"Okay. Do you want me to -"

"I'm fine," Elsa had to say again, now a bit harsh. She cursed at herself for talking like that to a friend. She just didn't want anyone to take care of her. There was no need.

Hiro looked at her strangely. "Okay. I'll go and see if I can find some of the guys from Norwegian class."

Elsa nodded and sighed when he had left. She then towards a hall to the side of the cafeteria, where a few tables were spread around the room and people sat in lazybags talking and laughing with one another. As she entered the hall, people turned their attention towards her and she looked down, avoiding their gaze.

Jasmine walked to her side from a place unknown, her fingers interlocked with a guy Elsa recognized to be her secret boyfriend. The boyfriend with the name she couldn't pronounce, however only spell. Aladdin. There. It wasn't that difficult.

"Hey beautiful," Jasmine smiled. "My... you look paler than usual. How are you doing?"

"I think I need to sit down."

"Sure," Jasmine gestured to the nearest table. She looked incredibly pretty. She was wearing a red shoulder-free dress, it was very flattering for her figure. The same impression of her beauty was evident in Aladdin's eyes as they constantly followed her every move. She thought it incredibly romantic, but had to ignore those thoughts. She knew she couldn't afford that kind of luxury. Not now, anyway.

As Elsa didn't say more when they sat down and instead started to look for Anna, Jasmine started to talk about what had happened to her today. Elsa couldn't quite focus at the conversation, but tried really hard.

" - and then I said that perhaps I didn't want to meet with any of his colleagues' sons and for him to arrange dates for me."

"Did you tell him about Al - I'm sorry, I still don't know how to pronounce your name properly," Elsa apologized to Jasmines boyfriend.

"You can call me Al, no worries," he smiled.

"No, not yet, he needs to get adjusted to the idea," Jasmine answered to Elsa's first question. Elsa felt bad for Jasmine's attempts at convincing her conservative father that she wouldn't agree with his proposals for future matches for her. Elsa had met the little man a couple of times and found him to be really nice and outgoing, however too reluctant to strive from the tradition and culture of his origin. At least that wasn't the case for Elsa. Norway was a liberal country when it came to finding a match for the future monarch. It could be a commoner, a foreigner, a ... she stopped at that thought.

"I'm sure you will get there in time," Elsa reassured both of them. Jasmine smiled at her friend warmly.

"Thanks, sweety," she said happily, resting her hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Now - do you want some wine or something? It's senior year. You should have some fun."

Elsa shook her head. "No thank you, I am good. Have you seen Anna? I cannot find her. I think Hans is with her.

Jasmine looked at Elsa suspiciously. "Hans?"

Elsa nodded. "I... I have to be honest. I don't trust him."

Jasmine looked at her drink first, then at Aladdin, and then lastly at Elsa, her eyes apologetic. "I saw her with him on the dancefloor a couple of minutes ago actually."

Even though it made her a bit dizzy, Elsa stood up, ready to leave in the search for her sister. Jasmine took her hand before she left the table.

"Elsa?"

Jasmine hesitated. "Maybe you should just... leave her be? I mean, I know you don't like the guy, he's flawed. But maybe it is good for her to exp - "

"Not with him," Elsa stopped Jasmine. "I'll go look for them."

* * *

Elsa had been walking around without finding her disappearing sister for at least 15 minutes, trying to look like she was having fun at the same time to the people passing by. She had to make polite conversations to the people she crossed paths with, and it was generally difficult to avoid attention and look for Anna. She felt so horrible being at the party, she should be at home, sleeping. It was as though she had to wear a constant, tired mask - but she continually became more and more nervous. Where was Anna?

She found her in a dark corner, Hans's lips pressed against those of her sisters. She wanted to shout at him with the anger she felt spreading in her whole body, to make him stop, but something made her halt in moving any closer to them. She didn't know if it was the last remark of Jasmine's, or if it was simply herself stopping her. She felt awkward, alone and lost, and she didn't know what to do with herself.

Air. She needed air.

The courtyard.

She stormed out of the room, and almost ran dawn the halls out to the courtyard. She found everything here to be quiet, one could only hear a few noises from the cafeteria. The trees in the courtyard were lit with small lamps and there were lanterns hanging down from the coloumns lightening up the first fall evening. It was a really nice place for holding hands or whispering sweet things in your fling's ear at one of the nearby outdoor tables. Only it was getting rather chilly, so nobody was here. Noone except for Elsa.

Elsa sat down and sighed at the nearest table. The cold prickled her skin providing clarity to the otherwise clouded mind. It was truly soothing sitting here. Only the solitude wasn't.

"Elsa?"

Elsa turned her head at the sound of Tadashi's voice.

"What are you doing here by yourself?"

Elsa immediately blushed at the sight of the older Hamada brother carrying a tray with snacks, probably on his way to serve it in the café. Here she was again, sitting by herself. How lonesome she must look like to him, she thought.

"I uh - it's too loud in there. I needed some fresh air."

"Okay," Tadashi said, placing the tray at her table while he turned to stand in front of her. "It does get really crowded in there."

Elsa nodded. She didn't really understand what it was about Tadashi that sometimes made her so shy.

"It surprised me that you came. I thought you wouldn't."

Elsa nodded again. "I did it for my sister, she shouldn't be coming by herself."

Tadashi took a seat next to her with an appropriate distance. His next question left her puzzled.

"Do you ever do anything for your own sake?"

Elsa looked at his brown warm eyes, unsure of what to say.

"I - I don't know. Perhaps it was a mistake coming."

She was confused. She thought it a strange question to ask, but still the question lingered. When was the last time she had done something she truly liked doing? Sometimes she felt like a puppet being controlled by higher powers in society, always trying to do the right thing.

"I am glad you're here though," Tadashi smiled, ending the question he had just started.

Elsa smiled back at him. A few good moments passed without either of them saying much. Elsa surprised herself by being the one to break the comfortable silence.

"I think I should head home. I haven't slept much last night."

Tadashi inspected her with worried eyes. "Are you alright?"

Elsa looked to the ground, somehow feeling her cheeks burn as he had looked so intently at her. "I think I can manage my way home. The only thing is the entrance. The media is still there."

"Maybe you should wait half an hour or so, maybe they will disappear."

Elsa shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe."

"It's getting rather cold out here. Do you want to get inside again?"

The cold hadn't bothered her one bit, but as it clearly did for him, she nodded. She stood up and waited for him to get the tray with snacks. They then walked side by side to the door, but as they opened the door to the inside and the heat and loud music attacked her, her head felt like it was struck by lightening and everything went black. The last thing she sensed was her back on the floor.

* * *

"Elsa? Oh my god. Please..."

Tadashi didn't know what to do. One moment, she was standing at the doorway just fine, all of a sudden she collapsed on the floor in her absolutely stunning outfit - it felt wrong somehow. He knelt beside her, trying to figure out what he had learned in his firstaid course.

One, secure safety. Noone was around, it wasn't an accident that involved any other people in danger.

Two, evaluate the person. He put his hand over her chest and bent his head down to hers to hear sounds of breathing. Her chest moved and there were small heaves of air. Thank god... she had just fainted. He then looked to see if there were any damage to her head as she fallen down. There wasn't. He sighed relieved.

Three, call for help. Should he call for help? Would she want an ambulance to take her away with all the press? He decided not. He called for Hiro, but the damned kid didn 't answer the phone and it went to voicemail.

"Hiro? The door to the courtyard. It's an emergency."

He called Professor Callaghan. Straight to voicemail. He had probably shut it off. Damn.

He took off his jacket and slid it under her fragile head.

Four, basic first aid. What could he do more than to try an wake her up gently? Could she have a concussion? His right hand stroked her cheek gently, somewhat automatically.

"Elsa?"

There was a small groan and a few blinks. "Elsa, I'm here."

"Tadashi?" She whispered, colour slowly returning to her face.

Her azure blue eyes stared directly into his. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"There is no need for you to be sorry," he whispered just as gently, still stroking her cheek. "You need to get home and have some sleep. But we have to make sure there is no concussion."

Elsa nodded and sat up slowly.

"Is there anyone at your... home, castle, whatever, who can lookout for you? Someone needs to be around." Tadashi felt strange saying those words in the same sentence. Home. Castle.

Elsa was about to nod, but then her eyes narrowed. "I cant go home like this. They will worry too much, I don't want them to. Our housekeeper Gerda is probably sleeping in her own house tonight, and Kai is with her. I told them we'd come home by Taxi. But what I fear more... is the press. They are probably at the castle tonight."

Tadashi felt sorry for her. Her life was so supervised, it would drive him insane to be in her position. He did the only thing he could offer her. His privacy.

"You are coming home with me. We will take the staff entrance, our car is right there. I'll only let Hiro know and I will tell the other staff members I felt sick. Okay?"

Elsa nodded, clearly relieved.

"Can you stand?"

* * *

"Aunt Cass? Are you there?"

The Hamada guardian came running down the stairs looking like she just got up from bed, however with a compltely red face indicating that she also had hurried preparing for their guest. "You took her _here?_ Really, Tadashi? This is no place for a princess to sleep."

Tadashi looked to the ground in embaressment. "She just needs a place for tonight."

Elsa left Tadashi's arms, walking slowly towards his aunt. "Cassidy, I'm very grateful for your hospitality. Your home and family have been so very welcoming, and I'm pleased to be here everytime I visit."

Aunt Cass nodded, her cheeks burning by Elsa's sweet remarks.

"She'll take your bed, Tadashi. You'll be sleeping down here."

He nodded slowly and then turned to Elsa. "Come on, I'll show you the room."

Tadashi felt thankful that he had cleaned his room the day before. Had he known he would have Elsa in this very room yesterday, he would have made it shine completely. She walked over to his bed solemnly and sat at the side of it.

"Thank you, for doing this, Tadashi."

Her pure blue eyes stared into his, and in a moment he lost his way in them. He didn't understand what spell she sometimes had him under.

"You're welcome."

He backed away to the door, about to leave.

"Tadashi?" She still looked at him, now shyly. "Could I perhaps borrow something to sleep in?"

Tadashi quietly gulped at the thought of her wearing an old t-shirt of his. What was he thinking? Why did his mind constantly lead him the wrong direction? He had to convince himself for a short moment that he could still say something normal to her, before things got too awkward.

"Yeah, sure. You can find one in the closet right there."

* * *

Tadashi woke up at the sound of Elsa whimpering in her sleep. He could hear it from downstairs and was at once alerted. He quickly came up to her in his room and looked at her with worried eyes. Although her eyes were closed, it was easy to see her distress. Her eyebrows twitched, she was completely pale, she moved from side to side, and she was curled up in fetal position. She was having a nightmare. About what, he didn't know. The few words that came out were Norwegian.

"Nei. Nei. Jeg ber dig." _Something with no._

Tadashi started to grow more nervous. Should he wake her with the following risk that she might not have more sleep for the night as she desperately needed or should he force her away from the terrors haunting her? Her brows tensed and her facial expression turned from afraid to hurt. Her whimpers became louder and it sounded as though she was in pain. Real pain. He was sure that the shivers down his spine were a reaction to the situation, however he hadn't noticed how the temperature had actually dropped a few degrees. He couldn't have anymore of it.

He situated himself gently beside her and started to shake her left shoulder gently.

 _No reaction._

He shook her more.

 _No reaction._

Her whimpering went on.

"Elsa?"

Tadashi spoke her name softly.

 _No reaction._

He decided to bring both her hands to his help and shook both shoulders while calling her name, slowly louder.

"Elsa?"

She opened her eyes wearing the expression of a wild cat afraid of taking a shower. She sat up straight with such a hurry and distress that their heads collided with bang.

"Aw!"

Tadashi had to blink a few times before understanding what had happened.

"I am so, so sorry," he could hear himself muster, "you were having a nightmare and - "

"It's okay," Elsa said slowly, her eyes watering a little. "I... thank you."

"Are you OK?"

Elsa nodded and gave a weak smile in false confirmation. "I'm fine."

As she looked at him again, her left shoulder started to feel warmer, and he suddenly came aware of the fact that his hand was still there. He gently pulled it away.

"What was the dream about?"

Revealing his SFIT t-shirt as she drew up her legs and hugged them to her, she answered almost in a whisper: "I can't remember. I never do. They vanish from my memory as soon as I wake... I - I don't know what's the matter with me at the moment."

Tadashi realised only then that her sleep issues had to do with nightmares. He had thought she just couldn't fall asleep in the evenings, that she was too concerned about something. How could one cure nightmares popping up out of the blue? How terrible, he thought, it must be to be haunted like that almost every night. How he wished he could make her worries disappear.

Without thinking about it he took one of her hands in both of his hands. She looked at him, first in surprise, followed by a warm smile that made her freckles come to life as small pecks of happiness. A real, genuine, heartfelt smile. He smiled back. Her wavy hair cascaded down her shoulders freely as he had never seen it before and the whole scent of her in his room, in his clothes, was intoxicating. There was no denying it. He liked her. Too much. Too quickly. Too dangerous. He had fallen for the one person who was not allowed to him for not only one reason, but two. _Her position in this country and my position at the school._ The whole thought of it made him feel uncomfortable and he had to clear his throat and pulled his hands away slowly.

"So... goodnight?"

Elsa nodded, curving up her lips a little.

"Goodnight."

Tadashi was about to rise from the bed when Elsa held his arm in place.

"Tadashi?" She said it almost out of breath. It was like she was looking for the right words. "Could you - would you mind... staying close?"

Tadashi nodded. "I can sleep on the couch right there. I tend to sleep like a rock." He pointed at the couch six feet away from them. He could sense how much she needed someone close by. He told himself that it was acceptable, in case another nightmare needed to be stopped.

She sighed relieved. "Thank you."

* * *

 **-.-.-.-.-**

 **Hello again. Oh. I can't even start to describe how much I love these two.**

 **Anyway, thanks for tuning in. It's been difficult writing this chapter, it's long, lots of changes of scenes and perspectives - I very much enjoyed it.**

 **To answer question from Guest ... - I update when I can. I know that is not saying much, but I really try and write everyday. Recently it's easier as I've started working again, but I'm moving out of the country in a few days, and I might need two weeks or so to settle. Usually, with the last fanfic I did, I updated every week or so. The chapters are a bit longer in this now though, so it might take a bit more time.**


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